A fter years of repeated failures, the UK government is once again trying to look busy on the border. UK prime minister Keir Starmer and French president Emmanuel Macron are currently in talks to secure a “one in, one out” migrant deal. Under this arrangement, Britain would send back Channel migrants to France within weeks of their arrival. In return, the UK would take asylum seekers from France. On Britain’s end, the deal would likely be limited to taking asylum seekers from France with family ties to the UK, in exchange for an equal number of Channel migrants being returned to Calais. It is being reported that such a deal could be formally announced at the beginning of next month.
France has traditionally been reluctant to agree to such a deal, after the previous Dublin returns agreement was scrapped following Brexit. But French interior minister Bruno Retailleau is now keen to “send a clear message” to migrants hoping to make the journey through France and across the Channel.
No wonder. Small-boat crossings have hit record highs lately, with more than 18,000 migrants arriving in the UK so far this year. At the beginning of this month, almost 1,200 people arrived in small boats on a single day. Smugglers have even been advertising “summer sales” for migrants wanting to cross the Channel, offering special seasonal deals for thousands of pounds less than usual. There appears to be very little deterrent when it comes to making these small-boat crossings.
It’s not hard to see why. Currently, French law prevents police from interfering with small boats once they have entered the water. This means that smugglers can pick migrants up from the water without having to touch the beach. France has recently agreed to start intercepting these boats on the water for the first time, but time will tell how effective this will be.
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